I felt her tension – saw it, saw the unbridled raw emotion twist over her face.
It pulled me in.
I was usually so god dammed distant, but it pulled me in. Seeing how terrified she was somehow made me feel like less of an outsider.
It had started with Nathan Shepherd, and now it was spreading. I was being pulled into more and more people’s troubles.
I tried to push the unwelcome sensation away, but it would not be pushed.
I swallowed hard again, throat constricted. “What do we do?”
“You did a brilliant job in picking up this sabotage, but I gotta say, you’re still not an engineer. I’m going to need every specialized technician the resistance has got. We’re gonna have to isolate the system, open that door, get in there, and figure out what the hell someone did to this ship. Jenks, we owe this ship’s ongoing existence to you,” she repeated again.
It took me a while to nod.
I felt… strange.
In fact, I wanted to tell myself I didn’t know and could not comprehend the abnormal emotion shifting through my chest like a quick wind.
But that was a lie.
It was pride again, wasn’t it? But not an ordinary pride. Not arrogance wrapped up in one’s own achievements, but something far subtler.
The feeling of changing the life of another.
I took a step back and found myself saluting.
“You don’t need to do that anymore,” she noted.
“I know. But I choose to. Do you need me to alert the Captain and Commander F’val?”
“It’s okay. I’ll tell the Captain myself. As for F’val, he’s no longer on-board.”
“What?”
“He didn’t stay with us; he evacuated the ship. F’val is one of our most valuable assets on the inside of Star Forces Command. Using his position as an enforcement officer, he can locate potential resistance candidates far more quickly than we can, and he can offer them a choice before the Star Forces takes away everything they have.”
“Oh,” I responded levelly.
“Don’t worry – I know this is all complicated. And I know you just joined the resistance. But you’re in good hands. Here, we look after one another.” With that, she turned back to her work.
I turned, but paused, head angled towards her.
We look after each other – those words echoed in my mind. Finally I shook my head and walked out of life-support.
I heard the Chief Engineer make the call to the Captain.
We had barely landed at the resistance base, and we’d already avoided disaster.
As I walked along the hallway, shined Star Forces boots pounding against the floor, I wondered where the next danger would come from and when it would manifest.
…
Lieutenant Commander Nathan Shepherd
I didn’t know what I felt as I met the resistance. Unlike the rest of the crew, my life hadn’t been building up to this moment. I’d only learnt of the existence of this group recently. It seemed everybody else had been planning the capture of the Ra’xon for at least a year and a half.
I couldn’t deny the tight sensations that ran through my chest as I walked by the Captain’s side.
Williams walked on the other side of the Captain, and a few other select command crew were at the rear.
I’d never made first contact with an alien race, but strangely felt like this moment was how it would feel. The pressure, the sheer expectation, and the fear.
I still didn’t know if the resistance would accept me. Especially with my blood ties to Admiral Shepherd.
Still, I had nowhere else to go, so I had to make the most of this.
We walked through the hangar bay until finally we reached a bank of superfast lifts.
We filed in, and the lifts started. I expected them to arrive at their destination almost instantaneously.
They didn’t.
In fact a whole minute and a half ticked by before we stopped and the doors slowly slid open.
As soon as they did, I was greeted with an incredible sight.
There was a massive glass wall beside me. It didn’t show down into the rest of the base. Nor did it provide a view of the desert above.
Instead it revealed a series of massive ice caves. Their pure white-blue crystalline structure glimmered back at me as my mouth half dropped open.
I suddenly realized why the lift ride had taken so long. We hadn’t shunted sideways in the building. Instead we’d travelled right to the other side of the planet.
It wasn’t that incredible – the hangar had been one hundred kilometers or so from the border with the ice region. Superfast lift technology was more than sufficient to bridge the distance in a few minutes.
Still, it was surprising to witness such a sudden shift in scenery.
Or maybe it was just the latent nerves still pumping through my blood and making my teeth jitter ever so slightly in my head.
I found myself pumping a hand by my side.
The Captain strode forward, and walked right at the massive glass wall that separated us from the interconnected caves beyond.
I twitched for a second before I realized it wasn’t glass. As she approached, it morphed around her, and she stepped down onto a light bridge that formed under her feet.
Another leap of faith, ha? My mind threw up that thought as I followed her and walked through the glass and onto my own light bridge.
Balls of electrified light held me aloft as I descended to the base of the cave beyond.
A large party had gathered to meet us.
As we got close enough, I scanned the faces, trying to figure out if I knew anyone.
They came from every possible race, even some of the species the Alliance deemed “unworthy.”
I found myself sweating, a complex spiral of nerves lodged in my gut. I would have pumped my hand back and forth, but it would’ve drawn too much attention to me. And that’s the last thing I needed now.
I had to fit in, I kept telling myself.
This was my new home.
I tried not to make too much eye contact with anyone. That didn’t stop the crowd, though – it seemed everybody was staring at me.
I was the resistance’s latest recruit, right? Well, me and Jenks. Everybody else aboard the Ra’xon had already been a part of the resistance before we’d arrived.
I cleared my throat uncomfortably.
Slowly the crowd parted, and someone walked forward.
Someone I recognized.
I blanched, hands falling loosely and limply by my sides as my mouth jutted open. “Lady Argoza?” I couldn’t control my voice.
She smiled at me, that beautiful face twisting with genuine warmth. “Nathan. It is good of you to join us. I had so hoped that you would come.”
I shook my head, incapable of following. “But… but your family are part of the ruling elite. You yourself sit on the House of Lords and Ladies!”
“I realize this must be a lot to take in. But please understand this, though my family are in a position of privilege, with privilege comes responsibility. We have watched the once great Alliance descend into hatred and cruelty. We must not allow it to slip any further. It is the right, and dare I say duty, of everyone with power to come together in this time to save our future.”
I looked at her, slowly taking a breath and letting it settle in my chest.
People like Lady Argoza were the poster kids of the Alliance. Rich, powerful, well-respected, and apparently filled with the requisite wisdom and foresight to lead the Alliance and all her citizens.
Yet here she was, a leading member of the resistance.
I wanted to shake my head again, but restrained myself.
Instead I concentrated on breathing, figuring that at least if I could do that, I was winning.
“Captain,” the Lady shifted her attention to the Captain, “you and your crew have done a commendable job. I doubt anyone else in this galaxy would have been able to land the Ra’xon. I
was informed that you even managed to dispatch two enforcement officers.”
“Williams here managed that,” the Captain said in a gruff voice. “Without her, we would have been dead.”
“But you’re here now—” the Lady began, spreading her elegant hands wide.
Something stopped her. There was an urgent beep from the Captain’s command PIP. She didn’t have to touch it. Instead she ticked her head to the side, clear worry plastering her face. “What is it?”
“We’ve got a major problem with life-support,” the Chief Engineer’s voice came punching over the line.
“What?” the Captain hissed.
“Someone’s been in there and sabotaged it. We were about to recalibrate it, but Jenks picked up something was wrong. If she hadn’t realized someone had been in there…” the Chief Engineer trailed off.
I watched the Captain’s face stiffen with cold dread. “Is the system isolated?”
“You bet you it is. First thing I did. I can’t tell for sure without getting inside life-support, but my bet is they were rigging it in a feedback loop to destroy our engines. We’ve taken it off-line. It’s not brilliant, and I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t have to – but the Ra’xon can survive on recycled air from the hangar bay.”
“What do you need to fix this?” the Captain snapped.
“A hope and a prayer, oh, and every goddamn technician in the building. We’re going to have to take this slowly and carefully. Who knows what other surprises our saboteur has rigged for us.”
“Who or what manipulated our life-support system?” the Captain asked directly, curling one massive hand into a fist, a fist that could have easily dented a hole in the hard metal floor.
“I don’t know. Jenks thinks it might be one of those telekinetic warriors. She could be right. There’s no other damage to life-support, just evidence that the chamber door has been manipulated somehow.”
“I’m on my way,” the Captain said as she turned hard on her foot. “Williams, you’re with me.”
I turned to follow the Captain too. She shook her head. “Stay here. I want you to help coordinate a response for a worst-case scenario.”
“Worst-case scenario?” I questioned, voice hollow.
“If my ship explodes, she’ll take half this planet with her. Find some way to stop that.” With that, the Captain strode off, her massive body cutting a long shadow that sliced across the icy walls.
I heard Lady Argoza take a shaking breath. “What’s going on?”
I turned to her, my own face as pale as the ice white walls all around me. “Someone sabotaged the ship. Christ… I can’t believe we didn’t pick up on this sooner.” I wasn’t an engineer, and it wasn’t my responsibility, but I still felt this mistake like a punch in the face.
I’d only just joined the resistance, but I knew enough about warfare to realize that if we wanted a chance at taking down the Alliance, we couldn’t afford mistakes.
“Will the Captain require assistance?” the Lady asked, those beautiful round eyes opening in fear.
“Don’t worry, she’ll requisition it. Now, who’s in charge of the security detail around here?” I looked past the Lady, letting my gaze slice across the room.
I found a likely candidate standing several meters back from the Lady, arms crossed over his chest, the bulk of his body hidden behind a few crates.
With a rattling cough, he dropped his arms and walked out. “I’ve got this,” he said.
I ignored him. “We need to get as many people away from the desert side of the planet as we can. If we’ve got one thing working for us in this situation, it’s this planet’s weather. I’ll have to run some calculations, but based on a rough guess, I’d imagine the winds cutting across the surface might just be enough to contain an explosion, should the Ra’xon blow.”
“It won’t come to that,” the man said, shooting me a steely look. He took another step out from behind the crates, and I got a good look at him. He was in smooth streamlined armor. Not the stuff you wore to take on a meteor, but the fine movable biometric mesh that sat almost flush with the skin. Behind him he had a sword strapped to his back. It wasn’t an ordinary shaft of metal, mind you. It was an electro spinning blade. Grab it out of his holster, and it would start to spin with all the ferocity of an atom, and all the power too. He’d be able to use it to cut through almost anything. Including his leg, if he weren’t careful.
There weren’t too many people who held those blades, and even less who chose that style of armor.
If I had to guess, he was part of the Harax Clan. A band of warriors who recruited from every race who held the same creed.
Formidable. Cold. Efficient. And not the kind of people you ever wanted to cross.
Oh, and they also held grudges.
He looked at me, hatred growing in his gaze.
Great. I’d made an enemy in my first few minutes.
Still, I had a job to do. “The Captain commanded me to plan for the worst-case scenario. And I intend to do that.”
The guy sneered. Actually sneered. Pulled his lip back and clenched his teeth together.
Maybe it was because I’d been sheltered by the Star Forces for so long, but normal people didn’t sneer. Teenagers did.
I bristled.
“J’axal,” Lady Argoza said softly, “you can trust Nathan. You honestly can.”
So the guy’s name was J’axal. And judging by the tender way the Lady spoke to him, and the brief look he gave her, it was clear he wasn’t immune to her charms.
Did he possibly think I was stepping on his toes somehow?
I wish. Lady Argoza, however, would never fall for a grunt like me. I’d just lost the one thing that set me apart – my command.
J’axal walked past me, arms held stiffly by his sides. “Keep up,” he snapped.
I intended to.
…
Ensign Jenks
It didn’t take long for the Captain and Williams to rush back onto the ship. I expected Shepherd to be there with them. He wasn’t.
I almost felt disappointed at that.
Though there wasn’t anything I could do, the Chief Engineer had ordered me to stick around nonetheless. I wasn’t a skilled technician, but I could carry out orders, if they were simple enough.
I stood in the corridor, fighting the urge to cross my arms. Which was stupid. To the Star Forces, standing around and crossing your arms in front of commanders was tantamount to insubordination. I wasn’t with the Star Forces anymore. So why couldn’t I let go?
Because it didn’t seem right. Love them or hate them, the Star Forces at least knew how to run a ship.
In all the emotion of stealing this vessel and arriving at the base, this crew were losing their training. And their training was the only weapon they had.
The Captain strode past me. At first I thought she’d ignore me, but she swiveled her gaze towards me. “Thank you,” she said simply. Then she walked into life-support with Williams by her side.
Williams gave me an odd look, then scurried forward.
I would have loved to know what they were talking about in there, but I didn’t have to wait long to find out.
The Chief Engineer rushed out, her brow plastered with sweat, her three eyes as wide as planets. “Do us a favor. Go to engineering and get the level III access kit. If you don’t know what it looks like, ask someone. Be fast.”
I didn’t need to hear that command twice. I twisted on my foot and shot off.
It felt good to run. To move my limbs freely. I spent most of my time, when I wasn’t lucky, coming down off compound 78. I had about a week and a half grace before the headaches would set in. Two weeks before I’d start to lose a little control in my muscles. Three weeks before the full fits arrived.
When I was in full-blown withdrawal, my muscles would become so tense, the idea of running would be like taking saws to my legs and arms.
Despite everything that had happened to me, I was still fit. I had to be
. Activating the two advanced implants in my elbows required nothing less. So I made it to engineering in good time. The Chief Engineer was right, and I had no idea what a level III access kit looked like, but I asked someone, snatched it off them, and then turned on my heel.
I had the access kit back to the CE in good time.
She snatched it off me. “You’re fast, Jenks. And observant. I still need your skills. I want you to go outside and help coordinate with the team on the ground. We still need to ensure the Ra’xon gets hooked up to the base’s life-support system. It’s a delicate process. We need to maintain precise atmosphere levels. If you don’t, the Ra’xon’s life-support systems could kick on automatically. And that would blow us all to smithereens.”
“You’re going to talk me through the process?” I questioned.
“Of course. And the resistance will have a team outside supervising. Now get out there. But take this.” She took something out of the access pack and threw it at me.
I caught it easily.
I saluted. It was the wrong thing to do. I wasn’t in the Star Forces anymore. Still, it felt right.
I turned on my boot, vaguely aware that the Captain was shooting me an almost proud look.
I pushed myself forward.
I enjoyed the sense of running. Arms pumping, limbs moving, lungs struggling for breath.
I would hold onto this memory when my fits started again.
If they did. Now I was with the resistance, I had access to an almost unending supply of Omega weaponry. Theoretically. I still had to get hold of it without arousing any suspicion.
But that was a thought that could be pushed away for now.
For now it was time to save the Ra’xon.
My duty shifts spent scanning the Ra’xon had put me in good stead, because I knew my way to the primary exit port automatically.
I pushed myself as hard as I could, streaming past several lieutenants who gave me quizzical looks. News of the problem in life-support probably hadn’t spread yet.
Sprinting, cheeks red, I reached the exit port. It hooked the Ra’xon up onto a metal gangway that led around the side of the hangar bay. My gaze darted around it quickly, and I realized I would have to run the entire length to reach an access ladder that could take me down to the ground level. And I’d have to be on the ground level to reach the environmental controls.
The Crucible- The Complete Series Page 17
